'From the figurative to the abstract'

Thursday

Aug 7, 2014 at 3:13 PMAug 7, 2014 at 3:50 PM

By Keith Powers

“It doesn’t need to be anything,” Ruth Mordecai says about her paintings. “What it derived from, that’s what’s interesting. How you go from the figurative to the abstract. It comes out of an exploration that is much more figurative at first. That’s where the greatest artists develop their own language.”Mordecai’s latest series of abstract works, oil, acrylic and collage on paper, are on view, with a smaller set of earlier works, at the Trident Gallery in Gloucester through the end of this month. More than two dozen pieces, painted in the past year-and-a-half, add to Mordecai’s impressive body of abstractions, which have been created over the past four decades, first at her Fort Point studio in Boston, and, since moving to Cape Ann in 1999, in her Rocky Neck studio.“I feel integrated,” she said in an interview several years ago, after her move to Gloucester. “I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I’ve assemble stories and ideas, and I can throw them all up into the air.”The abstractions on view here bear her words out. Symbols and recurring images—“it’s just part of my language”—show up in imaginative recurrences: apples, moons, baskets and containers, a primal sun, menorahs, Jacob’s ladder. Many of the works are grounded, with a base that might imply a sculptural plinth. Many cast a horizon line above, “like when you’re driving, and look out at a distant hill.“When I started out, I thought I would always be a sculptor. I loved the forms, even though it was very demanding. Now, when I work, I can call upon it, but it doesn’t feel as important anymore. The works are not programmed in any way. I don’t know where it’s going to end up. It’s the process, and I just go with that.”Mordecai’s work gets dense, building heavily laden, detailed compilations, layered or textured by collage and oil. Typically, a layer of acrylic goes down, then some bits of collage, then oil on top, but that process gets tinkered with as well. There are even four mostly black-and-white mono-prints on view, using a different process but achieving the same visual end.Several large works dominate the room, but large or small, every one carries the sense of masterful construction. In Trident’s smaller black box gallery, Mordecai shows a handful of works dating from the early ’80s.“I was doing sculpture then, and these ideas are sculptural. Maybe it’s the teacher part of me that wants to have these pieces here, to help out with the newer work," she said. “I have a favorite David Smith quote (referring to the late American abstract expressionist sculptor): ‘Ability is one thing, but the identity is what makes the work.’ I feel like I’m speaking through this, everything that I’ve accumulated over years of working. This one is about my kids. This one is about James. The older works are not quite as free as these. I’m less concerned now, with anything; it’s just happening, just process.”“Ruth Mordecai: New Works on Paper” runs at the Trident Gallery through Sept. 1. There is a reception for the artist on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 5–7 p.m. Mordecai will lead a discussion of her work on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 5 p.m. All events are free to the public. For more information visit www.tridentgallery.com or call 978-491-7785.